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Ktistes

(318 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Frateantonio, Christa (Gießen)
[German version] (κτίστης; ktístēs). Ktistes (from Greek κτίζειν/ ktízein, ‘to make habitable, to settle’ or ‘to found, set up’) is (next to archēgétēs and oikistḗs; Latin conditor) the term used in the Greek language area in pre-Christian times to describe founders of cities. In inscriptions from the Hellenistic period ktistes also often means founder of games or other public institutions (cf. e.g. CIG 2851). Christian authors use ktistes in the sense of Creator (God) (of the earth, flora, fauna etc.). Ktistes in the sense of city founder could be a god (particularly Apoll…

Factiones

(1,211 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Hönle, Augusta (Rottweil)
[German version] I. Republic In Rome the permanent or temporary union between people who were mostly of high rank so as to preserve or assert similar interests. Initially used in the sense of a kinship connection (Plaut. Trin. 452; 466; 490), factiones gain a pejorative meaning in the late Roman Republic (‘clique’, ‘coterie’ in [1. 103 and passim]) as the term for an oligarchical group (Cic. Rep. 1,68; Caes. B Civ. 3,82f.) that was mostly reproached for moral inferiority (Sall. Iug. 31,15) and always for striving for power ( dominatio). For instance, political fellow travellers ( Syllana …

Merismos

(80 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] (μερισμός; merismós from μερίζειν; merízein = ‘to divide, distribute’) in Athens the name for the ‘distribution’ of funds from tax incomes by the apodéktai to the appropriate officials ( archaí ). The sums allocated were determined by the council of the polis ( boulḗ ) and had to be struck off immediately after distribution ([Aristot.] Ath. pol. 48,1-2). Merismos is not attested before the 4th century BC ( Taxes III. B.). Eder, Walter (Berlin) Bibliography Rhodes, 557-560.

Bessas

(101 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Goth of Thracian origin (born around AD 480), whose family did not accompany Theoderic to Italy in AD 488. He served as an officer in Justinian's army against the Persians, under  Belisarius in the reconquest of Italy, as also against the Goths and in his old age in Syrian territory. He achieved high rank ( dux Mesopotamiae 531; mag. mil. vacans in Italy 535-546; mag. mil. per Armeniam 550-554), was even patricius, but was finally banished for having a too nonchalant attitude towards his duty as a consequence of excessive financial dealings. PLRE 2, 226-229. Eder, Walter (B…

Spartocids

(83 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Ruling dynasty in the Regnum Bosporanum, named after its founder Spartocus [1] I, who took over the power from the Archaeanactids of Panticapaeum in 438/7 BC. The dynasty, which distinguished itself in the Classical and early Hellenistic periods with a brisk trade in corn in the Aegaean (primarily with Athens), came to an end in 109 BC with the handing over of power by its last ruler, Paerisades [6] V, to Mithridates [6] VI of Pontus. Eder, Walter (Berlin)

Prothytes

(69 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] (Προθύτης; Prothýtēs). Theban, leading anti-Macedonian politician who, relying on Athenian help, in 335 BC advocated the secession of Thebes from Macedonia. Swiftly advancing on Thebes, Alexander [4]  the Great (Diod. 17,8,2) demanded in vain his surrender (Plut. Alexandros 11,7). He was probably killed in the defence of the city, which involved heavy losses (Arr. Anab. 1,8,1-8; Diod.  Sic. 17,14,1; Plut. Alexandros 11,12). Eder, Walter (Berlin)

Rulership

(2,483 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Cancik-Kirschbaum, Eva (Berlin) | Kahl, Jochem (Münster) | Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)
[German version] I. General Rulership is here understood as political rulership, i.e. a reciprocal social relationship serving to create and permanently preserve the social order through political organization. Rulership is based on fixed rules applying both to the ruler(s) and the ruled; thus those ruled generally assent blindly to the authority of the ruler(s), or are at least so minded as to tolerate it. As a system of order, rulership appears in different forms: in the ancient Near East and Egyp…

Areobindus

(290 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] [1] Flavius A. Cos. 434 AD Father of Dagalaifus, grandfather of A. [2], in AD 434 consul together with Aspar Ardabur. As magister militum ( comes foederatorum?) he defeated a Persian officer in single combat in 422, in 441 Theodosius II sent him as magister militum against the Vandals to Africa but he missed his opportunity because he stayed too long in Sicily. He was defeated by Attila in 443 (as was Aspar). In 447 patricius; died in 449 (PLRE 2, 145 f., A. 2). Eder, Walter (Berlin) [German version] [2] Flavius Areobindus Dagalaifus Areobindus Cos. 506 AD Son of Dagalaifus,…

Rulers

(2,915 words)

Author(s): Cancik-Kirschbaum, Eva (Berlin) | Kahl, Jochem (Münster) | Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) | Eder, Walter (Berlin)
I. Ancient Orient [German version] A. Terminology Designations for rulers include: (1) descriptive terms like the Sumerian LUGAL (literally 'big man'), equated in vocabularies with the Akkadian šarru ('shining one(?)'), malku ('adviser', Hebrew melek), Hittite ḥaššu- ('well-born one'); furthermore, Sumerian NUN and Akkadian rubāum ('most excellent one'), and Sumerian EN, Akkadian bēlu, Hittite išḫa- ('lord'); these apply regardless of the size and structure of the area of rule. Feminine forms are recorded. (2) Culture and epoch specific titles (a…

Year of four emperors

(516 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Modern term for the year AD 69, in which four emperors – some at the same time, some in swift succession – ruled the Roman Empire (Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian), and in the broader sense for the period between Iulius [II 150] Vindex's revolt against Nero (beginning of AD 68) in Gaul and the elevation to emperor of  Vespasian (1 July 69 in Egypt, 3 July 69 in Syria) or its recognition by the Senate in Rome (21/22 December 69). Galba [2], from an ancient patrician family, sided with Iulius Vindex's rebellion, was proclaimed empe…

A. A.

(52 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Abbreviation of the blanket name A(ulus) A(gerius), which, in Roman juristic writing, serves as the designation for the plaintiff (  actio ). N(umerius) N(egidius) stands for the defendant. In addition, the names Titius, Gaius or Sempronius are used for the designation of a third party. Eder, Walter (Berlin)

Toparches

(29 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] (τοπάρχης; topárchēs). 'Leader (ἄρχειν/ árchein = rule) of a district ( tópos)'; in the Hellenistic period the highest civil administrative official in a tópos (q.v.). Eder, Walter (Berlin)

Assemblies

(2,182 words)

Author(s): Renger, Johannes (Berlin) | Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] I. Ancient Near East There was at various periods and in various regions of the ancient Near East a spectrum of manifestations of collective bodies with diverse powers of decision-making  and capacities for implementation. Crucial to the role of such collective bodies was on the one hand the nature of their historical genesis, and on the other hand the nature of their integration into the prevailing system of rulership. There were no popular assemblies as in the Classical Mediterranea…

Amalaberga

(96 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Daughter of  Amalafrida and niece of Theoderic the Great, married to the king of the Thuringians Herminafridus (Iord. Get. 299; Procop. 5,12,22; 8,25,11; Cassiod. Var. 4,1) c. AD 510 in order to cement an alliance against the Franks. After the conquest of the Thuringian kingdom and the death of her husband in 534 she fled to her brother Theodahad in Ravenna. Her son Amalafridus and a daughter went to Constantinople after the taking of Ravenna by  Belisarius, where Justinian married the daughter to the Langobard Audoin (PLRE 2, 63). Eder, Walter (Berlin)

Eparchos

(160 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] (ἔπαρχος; éparchos). Head of an   eparchía , a territorial administrative unit in Hellenistic states, especially in the  Seleucid kingdom. It is disputed whether eparchos ever was an official title for the holder of civil and military power in a subdivision of the satrapy ( Satrap) because in this context it is not attested epigraphically. The first appearance of the term eparchos for a governor in Seleucid territory in Polybius [2] (5,46,7) suggests that eparchos was formed as an analogy to the term eparchía (the Greek term for a Roman province) and describes …

Epigoni

(430 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Latacz, Joachim (Basle)
(ἐπίγονοι; epígonoi, ‘future generations’, ‘descendants’). [German version] [1] Second generation of successors of Alexander [4] the Great Second generation of successors of Alexander [4] the Great in regions of the former Alexandrian Empire. Regarding the term Epigoni, see  Diadochi and Epigoni. Eder, Walter (Berlin) [German version] [2] Early Greek epic Lost early Greek epic (only one hexameter certain to belong to it has survived, and that is the introductory verse: F 1 Bernabé = F 1 Davies, see below) which belonged to the Theban part of th…

Amorges

(150 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] (Ἀμόργης/ Amórgēs). Persian, illegitimate son ( nóthos: Thuc. 8,5,5) of the satrap of Sardis Pissuthnes; from Caria he resumed his father's rebellion against the Persian king Darius [2] II, which had failed before 413 BC. No later than 412 BC Athens made an attempt at cooperation with A. (Thuc. 8,19,2), in breach of a treaty with Darius [2] II (And. Or. 3,29; cf. Epilycys), if payments to an Athenian general in Ephesus in the year 414 [1. no. 77, Z. 79] were for assistance for A. (as in…

Severan dynasty

(979 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] The SD, also referred to as 'The Severans', 'Severan era', or, owing to the origins of the family in Africa and Syria, the 'African/Syrian emperors', lasted c. 40 years from the accession of their founder, Septimius [II 7] Severus (AD 193-211), via his sons by Iulia [12] Domna, Caracalla (198-217) and Geta [2] (209-211), to Iulia Domna's great nephews Elagabalus [2] (218-222) and Severus [2] Alexander (222-235). The sequence of Severan emperors was interrupted for about a year (April 217-mid 218) by the rul…

Telonai

(317 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] (τελῶναι/ telônai, Sg. τελώνης/ telṓnēs; 'tax leaseholders', from τέλη/ télē = 'taxes' and ὠνή/ ōnḗ = 'buying, lease'); private entrepreneurs or businesses in the Greek domain, comparable with the Roman publicani (see Cic. Ad Q. fr. 1,1,33). They either purchased for a lease guaranteed to the state, the right to collect taxes and tolls for a certain period in a defined area as well as the right to exploit mines, or they received a certain sum of money from the state and had to provide an agr…

Hellenic League

(343 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Modern term for the league of c. 30 Greek states (31 in Plut. Themistocles 20,3; cf. Snake column) which swore an oath to unite against the Persians in the autumn of 481 BC, immediately prior to the attack of Xerxes [1] I and whose representatives ( próbouloi: Hdt. 7,172,1) met regularly in the sanctuary of Poseidon on the Isthmus of Corinth, beginning no later than the spring of 480. The first meeting took place in 481 in Sparta (Paus. 3,12,6), the leading Greek power of the time (cf. Thuc. 1,18,2), or on the Isthmus (Hdt. …

Blaesus

(87 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Eder, Walter (Berlin)
Common cognomen (‘the lisper’), e.g. in the gens Gellia, Naevia, Iunia, Pedia, Sallustia, Sentia, Sempronia. [German version] [1] Freund of Atedius Melior, Senator, died 90 AD Friend of Atedius Melior, probably a senator; died before AD 90 (Stat. 2,1,189ff.). A link with P. Sallustius Lucullus remains uncertain, cf. [1. 12f., 334ff.]. Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography 1 Scheid, Collège. [German version] [2] Roman jurist Jurist, probably a student with  Labeo of Trebatius (cf. Dig. 33,2,31). Identification with Q. Iunius B. (cos. suff. AD 10) is questionable. Eder, Walter (Ber…

Quaesitor

(127 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] ('examiner') can, in general Latin usage, mean any chairman of a jury ( quaestio ) in criminal proceedings; however, the chairman selected for an individual trial is usually meant, in contrast to the permanent chairman appointed for a year ( praetor, iudex quaestionis) [1, vol. 2. 2234; 2. 48-50]. He also did not have a vote [2. 1629] and was bound by the decision of the committee which he led. A juristic connection of the quaesitor to the ancient quaestores parricidii ( parricidium ) is disputed, but accepted by [2. 44 f., 132], who sees i…

Rome

(21,607 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Jongman, Willem (Groningen) | Heinzelmann, Michael (Rome)
This item can be found on the following maps: Socii (Roman confederation) | Theatre | Tribus | Caesar | Umbri, Umbria | Christianity | Villanova Culture | Wine | | Coloniae | Etrusci, Etruria | Commerce | Italy, languages | Celts | Latini, Latium | Limes | Natural catastrophes | Pertinax | Phoenicians, Poeni | Pilgrimage | Punic Wars | Punic Wars | Regio, regiones | Rome | Rome | Athletes | Batavian Revolt (Ῥώμη/ Rhṓmē; Lat. imperium Romanum). I. History [German version] A. General remarks The history of Rome, which according to Roman tradition began with its foundation in 753 BC…

Puer, pueri

(274 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] In Latin puer is used: (1) to describe male slaves of any age (like the Greek παῖς/ paîs); (2) to distinguish a free male child from a female one ( puella); and (3) to indicate a stage of life (Dig. 50,16,204). According to Festus (307), 'the ancients' ( antiqui) named their slaves Marcipor, Quintipor, etc., to express the master-slave relationship of Marcus or Quintus to each por = puer. A slave remained a puer until freed because his physical development, unlike that of a free child, would not lead to legal majority (Sen. Ep. 47,7). Latin lacks a ter…

Amalaricus

(156 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Son of Alaricus [3] II and a daughter of Theoderic the Great. After Alaricus' death (507), his half-brother Gesalech ruled instead of the c. five-year-old A. (Gesalicus; Procop. Goth. 5,12,43; differently Greg. Tur. Franc. 2,37). After 511 Theoderic took over rulership for A., who had been nominally named king (Procop. Goth. 5,12,46; Iord. Get. 302 names Theudis as regent) until after Theoderic's death in 526 when A. took up full rulership (Procop. Goth. 5,13,4 ff.). He married a daughter of the Frank C…

Ardabur

(456 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] [1] Flavius, cos. 427 AD Flavius, of Alan descent, father of Aspar A. Consul in AD 427. As magister utriusque militiae, he led a successful campaign against the Persian commander Narses in AD 421-422. In AD 424, he was, as magister utriusque mil. (praesentalis?), sent to Italy by Theodosius II, together with his son, against the usurper Iohannes who had seized power after the death of Honorius in AD 423; however, he was already captured during the crossing and held in Ravenna as Iohannes' prisoner, but freed by his son in AD 425 (PLRE 2, 137 f., A. 3). Eder, Walter (Berlin) …

Town, city

(4,219 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Nissen, Hans Jörg (Berlin) | Niemeyer, Hans Georg (Hamburg) | Prayon, Friedhelm (Tübingen) | Kolb, Frank (Tübingen)
[German version] I. Definition 'Town' and 'city' in modern parlance have become general terms to describe settlements of a particular size, with a particular complement of buildings and administrative and legal structure. Owing, however, to the manifold forms assumed by towns and cities, we lack a specific, all-embracing definition: criteria such as a closed built environment, a highly evolved division of labour, and central administrative and economic functions for the surrounding territory, have p…

Alaricus

(1,033 words)

Author(s): Schwarcz, Andreas (Vienna) | Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] [1] (Alarich). Mid 4th cent. AD, King of the Erulians (Alarich). Mid 4th cent. AD, King of the Erulians who resided on the Sea of Asov according to  Ablabius [3] quoted by Iordanes ( iuxta Maeotidas Paludes habitans). They were defeated by the Greuthungi king  Ermanaricus, partially destroyed, the rest of them subjugated. Nothing more is known about the personal destiny of A. (Iord. Get. 117-119). Schwarcz, Andreas (Vienna) Bibliography H. Wolfram, Die Goten, 31990, 44, 97, 150. [German version] [2] I Gothic king, AD 391-410 A. I, from the Balthi family (Iord. Get…

B (Number)

(56 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] In Greek numerical systems, β (beta) designates the number 2 in the ‘alphabetic’ system. In the same system, it can also designate the number 2,000 when prepositioned with a diacritical symbol ('β, ,β). In the ‘acrophonic’ system, β' is the symbol for the fraction 2/3.  Arithmetics;  Numerical systems Eder, Walter (Berlin)

Pergamum

(5,864 words)

Author(s): Radt, Wolfgang (Istanbul) | Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Berger, Albrecht (Berlin)
This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Caesar | Christianity | Xenophon | | Commerce | Hellenistic states | Oracles | Pergamum | Persian Wars | Athletes | Education / Culture (Πέργαμον, ἡ Πέργαμος; Pérgamon, hē Pérgamos). [German version] I. Location City in Mysia, modern Bergama (at the foot of the ancient acropolis, partially on the remains of P.), in western Turkey, 110 km north of İzmir, c. 30 km from the coast at the edge of the plain of the Caïcus [1], modern Bakır Cayı. The ancient settlement was located on a 300-m high mountain ridge, surro…

Tullia

(610 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Strothmann, Meret (Bochum)
[German version] [1] Daughter of the Roman king Servius Tullius [I 4] Daughter of the Roman king Servius Tullius [I 4], the son-in-law of Tarquinius [11] Priscus, she was married to her uncle Arruns. Having failed in her attempts to talk Arruns into assuming rulership, T. turned towards Arruns' brother Tarquinius (the later Tarquinius [12] Superbus), husband of her sister of the same name. After the death of Arruns and of her sister (by murder?; Liv. 1,46,9; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 4,30,1), T. married Tarquini…

Census

(641 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] The ancient census had its origins in the effort to establish the military potential of a community, and was thus at first restricted to the part of the population that was capable of and qualified for military service, i.e. adult male citizens. Because the prevailing principle of self-provision of equipment made military service as cavalryman, heavy infantryman ( hoplitai ), light infantryman or military auxiliary dependent on the citizen's economic standing, a classification according to wealth was made by estimation ( census ; cf. time ), int…

Polybius

(3,367 words)

Author(s): Dreyer, Boris (Göttingen) | Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Moritz, Anja (Potsdam)
(Πολύβιος; Polýbios). [German version] [1] (Physician) see Polybus [6] Physician, see Polybus [6] Dreyer, Boris (Göttingen) [German version] [2] Greek historian, 3rd/2nd. cent. BC Greek historian. Dreyer, Boris (Göttingen) [German version] A. Life Son of Lycortas, the leading statesman of the Achaean League (Achaea with map), from Megalopolis. He was born before 199 BC (as hípparchos, i.e. holder of the second highest office within the Achaean League in 169 BC, he must have been at least 30 years old), died in around 120 BC (according to Ps.-Lucian.…

Zilath

(206 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] (also zilat, zilach, zilac). Name of an office in Etruscan cities, known from inscriptional evidence from the 4th cent. BC onwards; most of the evidence is from the territory of Tarquinii, more from Vulci, Volsinii, Volaterra and Clusium [1. 246 f.]. The zilath seems (to some extent with other officials also described as zilath but charged with other duties) to have been at the apex of the city administration which evolved after the dissolution of the kingdom and the decline of aristocratic power in Etruria (Etrusci). Zilath also appears in connection with mechl rasnal…

Attila

(394 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Son of Mundzuk, from AD 434 together with his brother Bleda king of the Huns as successor to his uncle Rua. After the murder of Bleda in 445, A. is until 453 sole ruler of a Hun empire reaching from the Rhine to the Caucasus, which also includes Iranian and Germanic tribes. The strict central organization of the Hunnish tribes, begun already by Rua, increasingly replaces the earlier, looser federation. Probably after the model of the Roman Empire but not with the goal of its destr…

Furius

(3,311 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Courtney, Edward (Charlottesville, VA) | Richmond, John A. (Blackrock, VA) | Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Giaro, Tomasz (Frankfurt/Main) | Et al.
Name of an ancient Roman patrician lineage (on inscriptions also Fourios), derived from the praenomen Fusus and also occurring occasionally in the original form Fusius in the literary tradition; the family perhaps came from Tusculum (cf. the family grave of the Furii ILLRP 895-903). The numerous members of the gens from the early Republic in the 5th/4th cents. BC are scarcely tangible as historical persons, and their history is in part later annalistic invention. Most well known is the ‘Saviour of Rome’ after the catas…

Civil War

(927 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
(Already in Hdt. Greek ἔμφυλος στάσις/ émphylos stásis; πόλεμος/ pólemos; Latin bellum civile). Fight between armed citizens of the same state on its territory, which could be particularly fierce in Graeco-Roman antiquity given that ‘citizens’ and ‘soldiers’ were identical and therefore battle-experienced troops encountered each other. The causes lay in social conflicts, political differences or the power aspirations of individuals. Because the boundaries of civil wars are undefined, differentiation from ‘revolts’ and ‘uprisings’ is difficult. [German version] I. Greece Th…

Acropolis

(374 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] (ἀκρόπολις/ akrópolis, 'upper city'), the highest part ( ákros = 'located at the top') of a Greek settlement, in Greece and in the Aegean area often with fortification walls, rarely so in the colonies of Sicily and Lower Italy (Fortifications). The original reference to these elevated settlements as pólis (on the Mycenaean roots of the word s. Polis I) was preserved in the designation of the Acropolis of Athens as pólis up into the 5th cent. BC (Thuc. 2,15,6; cf. Aristoph. Nub. 69; Paus. 1,26,6). When settlements began to extend down the slopes begi…

Sacrosanctus

(301 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] According to Festus (318, s. v. s.) s. described objects or persons who were protected by oath ( Sacramentum ) in such a way that by harming them the culprit came under the threat of the death penalty. As examples Festus gives the tribune of the plebs ( Tribunus plebis ) and, incorrectly, also the plebeian aediles. From their inception (in 494 BC; Struggle of the orders), the people's tribunes were protected by the lex sacrata (Liv. 2,33,1 and 3;  Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 6,89,2-4; Cic. Rep. 2,58), i.e. by an oath of the plebs to have every injury to a tribu…

Squeeze

(125 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] 'Squeeze' (German abklatsch, French estampage) is the term for a negative impression of an inscription on paper or a latex sheet. After the inscribed surface has been cleaned, soft paper is pressed with a firm brush, or a thin film of liquid latex is poured, on to the inscription. After drying the squeeze can be detached and transported at will; under suitable lighting it can often be read better than the original. Large collections of squeezes can be found in the Akademie der Wissens…

Bouleuterion

(45 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Building where the  boule met. Attestable from the archaic period, from the 4th cent. BC the bouleuterion was regularly one of the public buildings at or in the vicinity of the  agora. On function and construction  assembly buildings. Eder, Walter (Berlin)

Prytaneion

(140 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] (πρυτανεῖον/ prytaneîon). Official building of the prytáneis , usually near the bouleuterion in the centre of a Greek polis (Agora; cf., e.g., Athens; Messene; Priene) and ostensibly of great age (cf. Thuc. 2,15,2). As the location of the state hearth, often with a constantly burning flame, the prytaneîon was the sacred centre of the polis and at the middle of numerous cult activities (Hestia). After the Persian Wars the 'contaminated' fires had to be extinguished and rekindled by Delphi in the prytaneîon (Plut. Aristides 20,4 f.). Participation in meals in the prytaneî…

S.

(125 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Abbreviation of the Roman forenames Sextus and Spurius (also Sp.). S stands also for senatus in the formula SPQR, as S.S. for the Senate's resolution ( S[enatus] S[ententia]) and as S.C. on coins that were minted on behalf of the Senate ( [ex] S[enatus] C[onsulto]; s enatus consultum ). Very often to be found on inscriptions instead of the possessive pronouns of the 3rd person suus, sua, suum (in all the oblique cases), such as S(ua)P(ecunia)P(osuit) ('built with one's own money'). On coins, frequently used within imperial propaganda for s alus ('health'), s ecuritas

Coriolanus

(168 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Marcius C., Cn, received the epithet C. for his deeds of heroism in the capture of Corioli in 493 BC (Liv. 2,33,5). The unyielding patrician's proposal to exploit a famine in order to render the plebs submissive led to his banishment in 491, and to his attempt to return home at the head of the Volsci enemy. According to tradition (Liv. 2,39-41; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 8,14-36), his mother Veturia and wife Volumnia persuaded him to turn back before the gates of Rome, and this cost him…

Catualda

(75 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Marcomannian noble who had fled from  Marbod to the Gothic Gutones. At the instigation of Drusus he invaded the kingdom of Marbod in c. AD 18 with the help of the Gutones who wanted to free themselves from Marcomanni subjugation and drove him into exile in Ravenna. Shortly afterwards he himself was driven out by the Hermundurian Vibilius and fled to Forum Iulii (Fréjus) (Tac. Ann. 2, 62-63). Eder, Walter (Berlin)

Teispes

(136 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] (Τείσπης; Teíspēs). According to the testimony of a cylinder inscription of Cyrus [2] II (TUAT I 409,21) an ancestor of his grandfather Cyrus [1] I and hence probably, like him, of Persian descent and a ruler in Fars (Persis) in the 7th cent. BC. The genealogical connection with the Achaemenids [2] in Hdt. 7,11, who puts into the mouth of Xerxes I a family tree with a T. as the son of Achaemenes [1] and another T. as great-great-grandson, can presumably be traced to Darius [1]. The…

Secret police

(629 words)

Author(s): Renger, Johannes (Berlin) | Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] A. Ancient Near East Xenophon (Cyr. 8,2,10ff.) tells of undercover informants, the “eyes and ears of the king”, who reported to the Persian king. Antecedents of this Achaemenid institution can be found in Mesopotamia: soothsayers (Mari 18th cent. BC) and state officials (Assyria 8th/7th cents.) undertook in their oath of office to report to the king any moves or actions against him. The extent to which fear of the “eyes and ears of the king” was an encumbrance to contemporaries can be…

Balthi

(226 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] The B. (‘the Bold’) are the royal line of the Visigoths, which is held in lesser esteem than the  Amali line of the Ostrogoths. Although the B. are also considered to be a line of ‘kings and heroes’, in contrast with the Amali, the memory of divine descent was lost. The historical descent of the royal family also remains obscure, because the relationship of the first identifiable Balthi prince, Alaric I ( Alaricus [2], died AD 410), to the three Terwingian judges of the 4th cent. …

Xerxes

(685 words)

Author(s): Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) | Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) | Eder, Walter (Berlin)
(Ξέρξης/ Xérxēs; Old Persian Xšayāršā, 'ruling over heroes'). [German version] [1] X. I Achaemenid great king (486-465 BC), son of Darius [1] I and Atossa [1]. 'Born in the purple', X. was designated by his father as his successor (XPf 31 ff. = [6. 81-85]; Hdt. 7,2 f.; Porphyrogénnētos ). At the beginning of his reign he defeated an uprising in Egypt (Hdt. 7,3), and later the rebellions of Šamaš-Erība and Bēl-Šimmanni in Babylonia [3. 361 ff.]. A campaign to Greece (in 480/79 BC) - about which only accounts from the…

Tullianum

(217 words)

Author(s): Eder, Walter (Berlin)
[German version] Part of the Roman state prison ( carcer ) for prisoners sentenced to death by strangulation, including the fellow conspirators of Catilina and the leaders of subjugated people paraded in triumphs (Triumph/Triumphal procession, with map). The name Tullianum led ancient authors to suppose that it was built by Tull(i)us Hostilius[4] or Servius Tullius [I 4] (Varro, Ling. 5,151; Fest. 490), but modern scholars think that it may have originally been a spring house (cp. Fest. 492: tullios = 'wellsprings'). Liv. 1,33,8 ascribed the construction of the carcer itself to An…
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